It Started with a Flower
by Rose-By Any Other Username
Summary: Paul always gave Stephanie flowers because they made her smile, even when she was close to death.


**A/N: I've been playing with this idea in my head for a while and I'm finally doing something about it. Really hope that this leaves with some type of emotion. If it doesn't, then I don't want to write anymore. As always, Read and Review. Hope you enjoy.**

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It started with a flower.

Just a single red rose. That was the normal gift that Paul gave to his wife every now and then just because he loved her. There really never was a reason and Stephanie always seemed to enjoy the surprise. Though now, the situation wasn't the same. Paul would normally leave the flower in Stephanie's office or somewhere around the home that they shared. Now, he was leaving them at the side of her hospital bed.

About a month ago, Stephanie had gotten very sick and the doctors had no clue what was causing it. They started coming to the hospital about once a week for new test after new test and leaving with the same feeling of disappointment. Stephanie soon became increasingly worse which required her to be admitted to the ICU. As the days went by, she any seemed to be getting worse. It seemed the only time she really smiled, was when Paul would bring her that flower.

After work, Paul had stopped by the florist, picked up the usual flower, and headed to Greenwich Hospital. He replaced the new, fresh rose, with the old, dying one on his wife's bed side table. Looking up, he saw the weak smile of her face as she gazed at the flower. Paul gave her a small smile back and sat down in the chair next to her bed.

Paul sighed, "How was your day?"

"Good, I guess."

Good. That's what her days came down to, good or bad. A good day was Stephanie waking up with minimal pain and actually getting some sleep. Paul reached over and held her brittle hand in his strong one.

"When are you going to bring the girls to see me?" said Stephanie in a hoarse voice.

"Soon, Steph."

The truth was, he didn't know when he would bring the girls to see their mother. Stephanie was in no condition to see any visitors and he didn't his daughters to worry about when she would be coming home. He wasn't prepared to have to explain to them the state that their mother was in. It hurt enough seeing Stephanie in pain, let alone, seeing his girls cry over it.

Stephanie looked up at him, "How are you doing? You have to be exhausted from work and then coming all the way over her to sit with me."

Paul couldn't help but look up with her with just the utmost of love in his eyes. Here she was, lying sick in a hospital bed and she was worried about him being exhausted. He was so lucky to be married to such a wonderful woman.

"I'm fine, really, and for your information, I like coming to sit with you. It's the highlight of my day." stated Paul, looking into her bright blue eyes.

Stephanie started to laugh, but it quickly turned into a fit of violent coughs. Paul cringed just listening to her, she sounded worse then yesterday.

Suddenly, Paul felt his phone vibrate in the back pocket of his jeans, "I'll be right back, love."

He gave her a peck on the forehead and walked down the hall, to the lobby. Unlocking his phone, he saw that his father-in-law, Vince, was calling him.

"Hello?" said Paul as he walked over to the vending machines.

"Paul," he heard Vince say, "how is my baby girl? Linda and I were thinking of coming to visit her today."

"She's doing alright, I'm sure she would be glad to see the both of you f you decided to come."

Hearing a commotion, Paul turned around to see doctors and nurses rushing down the hall towards Stephanie's room.

"Vince, I'm going to have to call you back." Paul said in a panic, as he ended the call and sprinted to his wife's room.

When he finally shoved his way into the room, he was nurses frantically pumping on Stephanie's chest and a doctor trying to put a tube down her throat. The mere sight of it, made his want to go throw up, but he had to stay strong for Stephanie. He felt so helpless. Time seemed to slow down as he kept glancing between his wife and the heart monitor that she was hooked up to. All Paul could do, was pray that everything would go back to normal and that Stephanie would be fine. His eyes were beginning to become blurry, as tears threatened to fall.

All at once, the steady beat of the heart monitor began to increasingly decline and the line became flat. The doctors and nurses stopped working on her and gave him a sympathetic look. Paul fell to his knees and the tears began to flow freely. All he could think was that this wasn't real. His mind must be playing some cruel joke with him. He refused to believe that his beautiful wife of 9 years was...dead.

What felt like an eternity later, Paul picked him self up off the ground and forced himself to walk over to her body. Everything was setting in as he looked at her still form and felt the slight coldness in her checks. He had to face the fact that Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque was really dead.

Friends and family dressed in black attire had gathered at the cemetery to remember Stephanie's life. The apparent sound of soft sobs filled the air. Aurora, Murphy, and Vaughn were all being comforted by their grandparents because Paul was too numb to be the supportive one today.

As time passed, one by one, the people left the grave plot until only one remained. Paul stood and the foot of the mound of fresh dirt, with a single rose in his hand. He kept reading the text on the head stone over and over.

_Stephanie Marie McMahon Levesque  
September 24, 1976-May 15, 2013  
Beloved Wife and Mother_

"I love you so much, Stephanie. I just wish I would have more time to show you how much you mean to me. You'll always be in my heart." Paul gently laid the rose by her head stone. As he began to walk away, he just knew that where ever Stephanie was, she was smiling.

It ended with a flower.


End file.
